Korean pop star Lee Min Ho has about 914,000 fans on Facebook and growing by the thousands every day. Though a good number are Korean, the bulk of his fans are girls from all over Asia, quite a phenomenon, considering the 23-year-old barely speaks a word of English.
Best known for his role as the multi-tressed, romance-susceptible bully Goo Jun Pyo in the Korean telenovela Boys over Flowers (which will be shown again on ABS-CBN under the title Perfect Match), Lee Min Ho in person, with his bashful smile and chuckle-laced replies, seems nothing like his haughty on-cam persona, the man every girl wants to take home to Mom. Or just take home. Period.
Especially when he openly, though with the slightest bit of shyness, declares his wish to find a girlfriend, as he usually does when prompted in interviews — a desire he again repeated, via interpreter, while being interviewed recently in the LG Optimus press conference in the Marina Bay Convention Center in Singapore — where he touted the features of the tech brand’s new touch-screen smart phone — and in the Meet and Greet Fans Day he had later on in the afternoon. If the thought of an unattached Lee Min Ho wasn’t enough encouragement for the throng of mostly women fans that crowded the convention center’s corridors, then his enthusiasm over the Cooking application, uploadable on the Optimus, sneaked in an added thrill. What women wouldn’t want a man cooking chili crabs for her? “Of course, I would like to cook for my girlfriend but, unfortunately, I don’t have a girlfriend right now,” laments the pop star. And if that wasn’t enough to raise hopes, there was his expressed desire for an LG Optimus application that will make it easier for him to meet girls, further establishing the notion that not all superstars with pretty hair, porcelain skin and a streamlined wardrobe know how to throw a good pick-up line. In fact, when asked how he would ask a girl for her number, Lee Min Ho replied that he’d probably have one of his friends get it for him.
But what probably endears fans even more is the actor’s active cyber presence, not only on Facebook, but also on Twitter, where he has close to 60,000 followers (a fake Twitter account gathered 70,000 followers before it was called out). Through his LG Optimus smart phone, Lee Min Ho constantly updates fans on recent pictorials, videos, projects and hairstyles. There are Facebook postings nearly every day and Tweets every couple of hours. Followers even become privy to pictures of his pet chihuahua, whom Lee Min Ho seems to be very attached to. In the press conference, the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Stef Cabal asked who he would like to call that moment, and the Korean star referred to his dog. Again, what woman wouldn’t melt at this obvious display of affection? Never mind that he posts a profile picture with a faux-hawk and eyeliner.
A little more on Lee Min Ho
The longest time he’s spent talking on the phone: 13 hours, with an ex-girlfriend.
Top three numbers on his speed dial: His mom, his dad and his sister. He then apologizes for his “boring” answer.
His favorite LG Optimus color: Black. But if he had a girlfriend, he’d get her the pearl pink one.
His ideal girl: Petite and someone he can share his interests with.
His hobbies: Cooking and watersports such as wakeboarding.
Closest friend in the BOF cast: Kim Bum.
The Tagalog he knows: “Mahal ko kayo.” Philippine showbiz alum and present Korean girl band member Sandara Park taught him the line when being interviewed together last year about their TV commercial. Convention Center in Singapore.